On October 2 in Hyderabad, MIM leader Asaduddin Owaisi said: “In this country, one can say ‘I love Modi’, but not ‘I love Muhammad’. Where are you taking this country? If someone says ‘I love Modi’, the media people will also be pleased. But if someone says ‘I love Muhammad’, they will say this is not right."

Undoubtedly, everyone has the freedom to express love not only for Modi but also for Muhammad. No dispute there. But the comparison is not apt. A proper comparison for ‘love for Muhammad’ would not be Modi, but Taslima Nasreen or Salman Rushdie. Should everyone, especially the Muslims, have the freedom to show the same love for Taslima also, putting up posters of ‘I love Taslima’? That is the other half of the question.

After studying the fundamental Islamic texts, giving many examples from it, Taslima in her poignant essay ‘Because of Religion’ (2003) arrived at this conclusion: “Muhammad had written the Quran for his own interest, for his own comfort, for his own fun." Thus, after knowing Muhammad, she became indifferent to him.

Therefore, the right juxtaposition would be: just as all Indians have the right to love Modi or Muhammad, everyone also has the right to criticise Modi and Muhammad. As Taslima said: “No one is above criticism, no human, no saint, no messiah, no prophet, no god. Critical scrutiny is necessary to make the world a better place."

Thus, until every Indian also accepts the right to hold that view, choosing only Modi or Muhammad will be but a selective poser. No one may hold a right which he tries to deprive others of. If Owaisi demands the right to love a person or an ideology, then he must equally accept others’ right to dislike the same person or ideology. Otherwise, it would be imposing one’s preference upon others, be it Modi or Muhammad.

Freedom of expression cannot be a one-way street, especially so on the same subject. As to the present subject ‘I love Muhammad’, there is an equal right to say ‘I don’t love Muhammad’. There should not be permission only to say sweet things about Modi or Muhammad. As George Orwell underlined: “If liberty means anything at all, it means the right to tell people what they do not want to hear."

This posits ‘I love Muhammad’ campaign in its proper perspective. The details in Sira, the biography of Muhammad, are the most authentic reference on this point. There is an endless series of incidents related to Muhammad and his sayings that make his commands and deeds not particularly lovable, especially to Kafirs, the non-Muslims. Even common Muslims might balk on many commands if the source is kept from them.

A number of Muhammad’s directives towards Kafirs demand a just appraisal, more so as Muslim leaders around the world, wherever they get power or opportunity, try to enforce the........

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